Repeated poisonings in Denmark - a nationwide study

Area of Science:

• Toxicology
• Public Health
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Poisonings are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality.
• Repeated poison exposures indicate a need for preventative strategies.
• Understanding the profile of patients with recurrent poisonings is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the patient population with repeated poison exposures in Denmark.
• To identify the specific substances involved in these repeated poisonings.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study utilizing data from the Danish Poison Information Centre and the Danish National Patient Registry.
• Inclusion criteria: patients with more than five individual poisoning episodes within a 12-month period (2013-2017).

Main Results:

• 137 and 995 patients met criteria for the respective databases.
• Majority were women; mean ages were 24.7 and 29.5 years.
• High prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities (personality and affective disorders).
• Most common substances were pharmaceuticals, particularly quetiapine, paracetamol, and cyclizine.
• Patients with cyclizine exposure had significantly more poisoning episodes.

Conclusions:

• Intentional poisonings are frequent among young women with psychiatric comorbidities.
• Pharmaceuticals, especially quetiapine, paracetamol, and cyclizine, are the primary agents.
• Recommendations include reclassifying cyclizine to prescription-only and tightening quetiapine prescribing guidelines to prevent future poisonings.